Vatican hosts conference on nuclear disarmament

By JUNNO AROCHO ESTEVES |
Catholic News Service

11/10/17

Pope Francis greets attendees at a conference on building a world free of nuclear weapons at the Vatican Nov. 10. CNS photo/L'Osservatore Romano

Bishop Robert W. McElroy of San Diego and Stephen Colecchi, director of the U.S. bishops' Office of International Justice and Peace, are pictured before the start of a conference on building a world free from nuclear weapons, at the Vatican Nov. 10. PAUL HARING | CNS

VATICAN CITY — The existence of nuclear weapons creates a false
sense of security that holds international relations hostage and stifles
peaceful coexistence, Pope Francis said.

"The threat of their use as well as their very possession is
to be firmly condemned," the pope told participants at a conference on
nuclear disarmament hosted by the Vatican.

For years, popes and Catholic leaders had said the policy of
nuclear deterrence could be morally acceptable as long as real work was
underway on a complete ban of the weapons. In condemning possession of the
weapons, Pope Francis seemed to indicate that deterrence is no longer
acceptable.

Nuclear weapons "exist in the service of a mentality of fear
that affects not only the parties in conflict but the entire human race,"
he said Nov. 10.

The conference, sponsored by the Vatican Dicastery for Promoting
Integral Human Development, brought together 11 Nobel laureates, top officials
from the United Nations and NATO, diplomats from around the world and experts
in nuclear weapons and the disarmament process. They were joined by scholars,
activists and representatives of bishops' conferences, including Stephen
Colecchi, director of the U.S. bishops' Office of International Justice and
Peace.

Several speakers, including Masako Wada, one of the last
survivors of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, were to discuss the
suffering wrought by nuclear arms.

Pope Francis told the group that the "essential"
witness of survivors of the bombings in Japan as well as those suffering the
effects of nuclear weapons testing are prophetic voices that serve "as a
warning, above all for coming generations."

In his speech, the pope said that when it comes to the ideal of a
nuclear-free world, a "certain pessimism" exists and brings with it
"considerable expense" as nations modernize their nuclear arsenals.

"As a result, the real priorities facing our human family,
such as the fight against poverty, the promotion of peace, the undertaking of
educational, ecological and health care projects, and the development of human
rights, are relegated to second place," he said.

Pope Francis said the existence of weapons whose use would result
in the destruction of humanity "are senseless even from a tactical
standpoint."

What is more, he said, there is the growing danger that the
weapons or weapon technology could fall into the wrong hands.

"The resulting scenarios are deeply disturbing if we
consider the challenges of contemporary geopolitics, like terrorism or
asymmetric warfare," he said.

With the ongoing tensions surrounding North Korea's nuclear
ambitions, the Vatican conference came at a time Pope Francis described as one
of "instability and conflict."

But despite the troubling global scenario, he continued,
initiatives such as the U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,
provide a dose of "healthy realism" that "continues to shine a
light of hope in our unruly world."

The treaty, which would enter into force 90 days after at least
50 countries both sign and ratify it, bans efforts to develop, produce, test,
manufacture, acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear
explosive devices.

Although as of Sept. 20 the treaty had been signed by more than
40 countries, including the Holy See, the United States and other countries
possessing nuclear weapons did not take part in the negotiations and do not
plan to sign it.

Nevertheless, Pope Francis urged the international community
"to reject the culture of waste" and place care for people suffering
"painful disparities "over "selfish and contingent interests."

Progress, he said, "that is both effective and inclusive can
achieve the utopia of a world free of deadly instruments of aggression,
contrary to the criticism of those who consider idealistic any process of
dismantling arsenals."

At a pre-conference event in Rome Nov. 9, Jesuit Father Drew
Christiansen, professor of ethics and global human development at Georgetown
University, and Carole Sargent, director of the university's Office of
Scholarly Publications, outlined what they saw as major progress in 2017 toward
a ban on nuclear weapons.

The work of grass-roots movements and organizations, including
the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which won the Nobel
Peace Prize, has been particularly important, Father Christiansen said. And not
to be ignored are hundreds of Catholic women religious who have engaged in
major protests, but also dedicated lobbying efforts. Sargent has been
researching the grassroots involvement of women religious, especially in Japan,
the United States and Great Britain.

The Vatican conference, Father Christiansen said, could be a
major push in getting the new U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
"supported around the world."

Speaking to journalists before the start of the conference,
Mohamed ElBaradei, Nobel laureate and former director general of the
International Atomic Energy Agency, commented on tensions between U.S.
President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader, Kim Jong Un, and the threat of
nuclear war.

In August, Trump threatened to unleash "fire and fury like
the world has never seen" in response to North Korea's announcement that
it had created a nuclear warhead small enough to fit on an intercontinental
ballistic missile. Kim responded to Trump's "fire and fury" talk by
saying his country was preparing to fire missiles into the waters around Guam,
a U.S. territory in the western Pacific Ocean with two military bases.

When asked for his response on the possibility of a U.S.-North
Korea nuclear conflict, ElBaradei had few words.